Although Gates and Jobs were fierce rivals in the personal computer business, the Microsoft co-founder says the two had a mutual respect for each other. "He and I, in a sense, grew up together. We were within a year of the same age, and we were naively optimistic and built big companies. We achieved all of it, and most of it as rivals, but we always retained a certain respect."

The candid discussion covers how Jobs and Apple took advantage of Microsoft missteps. "We did tablets, lots of tablets, well before Apple did," says Gates. "But they put the pieces together in a way that succeeded."

Gates also admits wishing to have had Jobs' sense of design. "The fact that he, with as little engineering background as he had, it shows that design can lead you in a good direction," says Gates. "Phenomenal products came out of it."